Monday, May 13th

Today we will…

• Shout-outs to NYT Headliners + Dear Data-ers
• Report Structure and Audience
• Special Formatting
• Storyboard!

Report Structure

Consider your Audience

• Consider the knowledge your audience has about the subject so you can tailor your terminology and balance background information and analysis.

• Most readers first skim an article to orient themselves, decide whether or not to read the article, and select the sections of greatest interest (make the abstract, intro, conclusion, and figures tell the main points of the story).

• Keep in mind your secondary audience – readers outside your field of work. This will help increase the accessibility of your work.

Mathematical Expressions

Follow standard grammatical rules for written English.

• Read the mathematical terms as verbs and nouns.

“When \(x<0\), then \(f(x)\) is strictly increasing.”

“When \(x\) is less than 0, then \(f\) of \(x\) is strictly increasing.”

• Use punctuation (.,;)

Suppose that three quantities \(x, y\), and \(z\) are related in the form:

\[f(x) + g(y) = h(z).\]

Here \(x\) and \(y\) could be the height and girth of the donkey, and \(z\) could be its weight. The functions \(f\), \(g\), and \(h\), are monotonic (i.e., always increasing or always decreasing).

Mathematical Expressions Guidelines

• Don’t begin a sentence with a mathematical symbol.
• Define a mathematical symbol (or at the same time as) using it in an expression.
• Avoid using letters for symbols that can be confused with words (e.g., \(a\)).
• Avoid using symbols in titles and headings.
• Choose when and when not to use mathematical expressions.

Formatting Mathematics

• Use some sort of math typeset (\(LaTeX\), insert equation in word, etc.).
  • Typically set apart from normal text with italics.
  • $ for inline math and $$ for a new line.
• Should you display a mathematical expression on its own line? Consider importance, length, and height.

When a fraction is written in-line, we use \((x+y)/(y+z)\), and when displayed, we express it in its tall form as

\[\frac{x+y}{y+z}.\]

Formatting Mathematics

• When multiple lines of mathematics are displayed, they should be aligned.

\[\begin{align*} x&=a+b+c\\ &<f \end{align*}\]

Formatting Mathematics

• Define variables, and be consistent and aware of their shared knowledge of uses.
  • \(x,y,\) and \(z\) for variables;
  • \(f, g,\) and \(h\) for equations;
  • \(m\) and \(n\) for sample sizes;
  • \(i,j,\) and \(k\) for indices;
  • \(p\) and \(q\) for probabilities;
  • \(\mu\) for mean; \(\sigma\) for standard deviation, \(\alpha\) for significance level, etc.

Figures, Tables, and Captions

• What figure(s) and table(s) encapsulate the main take-away?
• All figures and tables should be labeled and given a caption. For example:
  • Figure 1: A few sentences to accompany the figure.
  • Table 1: A few sentences to accompany the table.
• Should be “stand alone”.